Mrs. Marion Boyd (London Centre): My question is for the Premier.
Today, the disabled community won a tremendous victory with a Supreme Court
ruling that people with disabilities must have equal rights to access the
health care system. In particular, the court found that people who are
deaf or hard of hearing have rights to sign language interpreters when
they're accessing health care services.
The Attorney General intervened in this case and argued that
because health services are delivered by hospitals rather than directly
by governments, it wasn't the government's responsibility to ensure that
access is provided for people with disabilities. Well, you lost. The Supreme
Court said that argument was not valid, and your government has been evading
its responsibility, but you can't stall any longer. All citizens have the
right, confirmed by the Supreme Court, of access to health services, and
it is the government's responsibility to ensure that they have it. Will
you stop your stalling and work with the Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Committee and others to ensure access to our health care
system?

Hon Michael D. Harris (Premier): I think the Attorney General
can respond.

Hon Charles Harnick (Attorney General, minister responsible for
native affairs): We have received the decision. It's a lengthy decision
that involves a significant review of charter issues, and certainly we
are reviewing the decision to assess its implications for Ontario.

Mrs. Boyd: It's not particularly lengthy. It's only 10 pages.
It is a Supreme Court of Canada decision and has far-reaching implications
for people with disabilities, guaranteeing them access not only to health
care services but to all other government services.
The decision today says, and I'll quote from page 5, "Legislatures
may not enact laws that infringe the charter and they cannot authorize
or empower other persons or entities to do so." On page 6 it says, "Governments
should not be allowed to evade their constitutional responsibilities by
delegating the implementation of their policies and programs." That is
exactly what this government has been doing with the restructuring commission,
with many of its other actions: trying to shove down decisions to other
bodies to evade their responsibility for access to services.
The reason the question was to the Premier is that the Premier
promised that he would enact an Ontarians with Disabilities Act in this
province in his first term and he has yet to meet with the committee that
has been formed, a rainbow coalition across -

Hon Mr. Harnick: Certainly, the first term isn't over yet. I can
say that the member has a very convoluted way of taking a look at what
the Supreme Court said on page 5 and on page 6 and relating it to issues
that bear no resemblance at all to what this case was about. Quite simply,
as she recites those passages on pages 5 and 6, it shows how necessary
it is to review and assess the implications of this decision on Ontario,
and that's exactly what we're doing.